[Tropism of adult liver stem cells toward hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro]

Abstract

Objective: To explore the biological behavior of adult liver stem cells in a co-cultured system of them with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells without direct contact between the two kinds of cells.

Methods: WB-F344, a kind of rat adult liver stem cell, and rat embryonic fibroblasts (REF) from a primary culture were engineered to express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) by recombinant adenoviral-mediated methods. Two kinds of cells marked with EGFP were established, namely WB-EGFP and REF-EGFP. After the HCC cells grew to 40%-60% confluence in the culture dish with a 10-mm cell-free area, a similar number of WB-EGFP and REF-EGFP were placed in the blank areas respectively. Then, we constantly studied the movement behavior of WB-EGFP in the co-culture system with HCC cells.

Results: The results showed that WB-EGFP cells migrated to the area of HCC cells slowly. Their appearance was found not only when WB-EGFP cells were seeded into the cell-free area at the center of the dish, but also when seeded into the blank area at the extreme edge of the plate. This trait was not observed in the co-cultured system of REF-EGFP and HCC cells, and most REF-EGFP were still localized in their initial area after 72 hours of incubation.

Conclusions: The results mean that adult liver stem cells have a biological behavior of selective tropism toward HCC cells in vitro, and suggest a possibility of using migratory liver stem cells as a delivery vehicle for gene therapy for HCC.